


Growing

by paladincoolcats



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Angst, Contracts, Demons, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, young ciel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:21:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6837016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paladincoolcats/pseuds/paladincoolcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis didn't expect much to come from the contract they made. They were certainly wrong about it.</p><p>or</p><p>Basically just some sebaciel fluff of the two growing fond of each other</p>
            </blockquote>





	Growing

**Author's Note:**

> These are also on my co-owned blog [askhisbutlerblogging](http://askhisbutlerblogging.tumblr.com) where I roleplay and YOU guys can come ask Ciel and Sebastian whatever your little hearts desire. I'm really new to the kuro fandom so hopefully this is okay c:

 

 

 

 

Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship was strange. Strange outside of Ciel agreeing to give away his soul. Ciel refused to trust anyone; aside from Sebastian, that was. Sebastian never felt drawn to the humans of his past contracts, and then Ciel came along. What started out as a hesitant contract had bloomed into something so much more.

Sebastian was a strange concept to Ciel just as Ciel was a strange concept to Sebastian. They were an interesting duo, and whilst no one knew of the power couple they made up, anyone could see that they shared a bond. A bond that neither of them had expected.

Sebastian constantly found himself surprised by his young master. He was so unlike other humans. He wasn’t greedy, was strong minded, intelligent, and was extremely independent. The boy’s unique way led Sebastian to grow rather fond of his master, attached nearly. The level of affection he came to feel for Ciel was immense.

Upon being accidentally summoned he hadn’t the slightest clue that the new master would be so tiny, so helpless, and so very needy. He assumed upon making the contract that it was going to be so tasking to care for the “brat” (or so he had thought of him at the time), but the smell of the sweet soul made it seem worth it. It became worth it for so many more reasons.

Ciel had a very hard outer shell. It was only obvious that he would, Sebastian eventually realized. Humans were affected by trauma in a way that he most likely could never comprehend. Under that hard shell, however, was a boy that was bold and caring and strong minded. Beneath the fear and the way he would lash out at those he figured would hurt him, was a boy that would stand up for what he believed in.

After first two weeks after the contract had been made, Sebastian had considered simply taking the kid’s soul as it was - the child was unsatisfiable. He did everything he could to make the young boy happier; dressing him, cooking for him, cleaning his healing eye, he even tied the little scoundrel’s shoes. The boy hardly even spoke to him, simply sat in stiff silence. At night when he would walk the boy to bed and tuck him in, the boy would squirm away from the hands and press his face into the pillow so he wouldn’t have to see Sebastian.

Finally, Sebastian grew fed up with it all. He had prepared what the child had requested for lunch one day, cheese on toast, something he hadn’t had to make before. His previous masters had all been adults and had no taste for such a thing, he was far more accustomed to much more elegant meals if he did any cooking at all.

Upon placing the food in front of the boy, Ciel had blinked down at it, “I don’t want this.”

“Master, what is the matter with it?” Sebastian asked as calmly as he could manage. He knew for a fact he had made it correctly. The child had made Sebastian run about all afternoon with the most useless tasks, and although he did not tire, he was fed up with how demanding the child was being. The child wouldn’t even so much as look him in the eye or thank him.

“This isn’t cheese on toast.”

“I can assure you that it is,” Sebastian insisted.

The boy shook his head, “Tanaka’s looks nothing like this.”

Sebastian immediately went to grab the plate away from him, fighting the urge to snatch it up and launch it. His tone was much snappier and harsher than intended when he replied, “Well then have him make it for you if you wish!”

However, Ciel gasped and flinched back at the sudden approach of Sebastian’s hands, shielding himself as if Sebastian was preparing to strike him. The demon froze, in his actions, pulling his hand back and frowning.

“I’ll j-just… just go to my room, I’m not hungry-”

“I was not going to harm you, master,” Sebastian sighed, a strange feeling (guilt?) blooming in his chest.

He moved to crouch to the boy’s level, but Ciel jumped up and dashed away without another word. Sebastian wasn’t called upon for the rest of the day and evening, and when he went to change the boy into his nightgown he found that Ciel had already clumsily done so himself. He wasn’t at all buttoned properly, but he was beneath crooked covers and sleeping, so Sebastian simply blew the candle by his bedside out and exited the room.

That night was the night the nightmares started. Sebastian had been examining all of the books in the library, as he did not require sleep, when he heard the bloodcurdling scream. He wasn’t entirely aware of what he was doing, but he was out of the library and bursting into Ciel’s quarters in but mere seconds, prepared to behead whoever was the cause of his master’s terror. Why he cared at all, he didn’t know. He knew for a fact many demons would have simply left it be unless their masters had ordered them to their side. The master, Sebastian was certain, had no clue how to give orders yet. Simply requests.

And yet the room was empty, aside from the sobbing boy beneath the covers. Sebastian approached him in long strides, pulling the blankets back to reveal the tiny boy.

The boy shielded himself, tears streaming down his face, “P-Please don’t! Someone help me!”

“Young master,” Sebastian murmured softly. “If it is any comfort at all… I am here, and you are safe.”

“I want my parents-” Ciel sobbed out.

Being a demon, he was brutally honest, “I’m sorry, my lord, but once something is gone like that, you can never get it back.”

Ciel only cried harder, and Sebastian, for once, had no idea how to approach the situation. He turned and hurried from the room, trying to think of all he had learned and noticed from the boy during his short time contracted. From what he noticed, the boy liked sweet things, he was still very childlike after all.

Sebastian made his way into the kitchen, searching for a sweet meal that was quick and easy. He settled for hot chocolate and warm toast, whipping it up before hurrying it back to Ciel. His master’s sobs had stopped, but he was still sniffling and was back under the blankets.

The demon placed the toast and hot chocolate down by Ciel’s bed, gently uncovered the boy, and reached for him.

“What are you doing?” Ciel gasped fearfully. “Let go of me!”

Sebastian did let go, but only after he had propped Ciel into a sitting position against the pillows. The boy had cried so much he had upset his healing eye where Sebastian had branded him with their contract mark, making bloody streaks down the right side of his face and staining up his light blue nightgown.

“You are making quite the mess of yourself, my lord,” Sebastian murmured softly, pulling the gloves he had adorned himself with from his hands so he could wipe gently at the boy’s face. Ciel cringed away at first, but he peeked at Sebastian through long lashes.

“What are you doing?” Ciel mumbled.

“If I didn’t clean up my master’s face, then what kind of butler would I be?” Sebastian smiled pleasantly.

“I don’t know… what kind of butler are you supposed to be?” Ciel uncurled himself much to Sebastian’s surprise, sniffing the air curiously.

“I’m simply one hell of a butler.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed, and Sebastian caught an eye roll from him. He nearly laughed aloud at his master.

Ciel’s stomach growled suddenly, and he chewed his bottom lip, “What do I smell…?”

“I made you toast and hot chocolate. You skipped a meal today, and a young earl needs to keep his strength up.”

Sebastian finished wiping Ciel’s face, turning the boy’s head to examine his eye. Ciel tugged away shyly, “Hot chocolate?”

The demon turned to the drawers by Ciel’s bed to retrieve a new nightgown first.

“Let’s change your bloodied shirt and then you can have it,” Sebastian immediately began unbuttoning the boy’s messily buttoned nightgown, tugging it off of him gently before helping him back into the new one. He buttoned that up as well, and finally handed over the food. However, he held onto the hot drink so that the boy wouldn’t end up spilling it all over himself. Ciel drank it down eagerly, finished his toast, and then settled back against the pillows once more.

Sebastian tucked him in more efficiently than he had been, and straightened up, “Will that be all, master?”

Ciel blinked up at him, “So… You have to keep me safe, too? That’s part of our deal?”

“Indeed.”

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep, then?”

“Yes, my lord.”

And so it began. Sebastian would tuck the boy into bed at night, only to be alerted an hour or so later by screams and sobs. He would rush to the room each time, even though he knew by then that there was no danger. Each time Ciel seemed to trust Sebastian greater, and finally two weeks or so after the hot chocolate and toast tradition began, Ciel rocketed up from the bed the second Sebastian uncovered him and flung his arms around Sebastian’s waist.

Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise, and he stiffened confusedly before hesitantly stroking at the boy’s hair. He sat himself down gently on the bed next to the boy, petting Ciel’s hair as he soaked the front of Sebastian’s suit with tears. The demon settled back against the pillows with Ciel, continuing to stroke his hair, and was completely taken aback when Ciel quieted.

The small boy had fallen asleep clinging to Sebastian, his face pressed to Sebastian’s chest. Sebastian was far too shocked to move, and even remained there the rest of the night.

After that, Ciel stopped screaming in general, and would rather scream out Sebastian’s name. Somehow, Sebastian didn’t seem to mind comforting his master much. He wasn’t aware of it at the time, but he was already growing rather fond of the young earl.

Ciel obviously had come to trust Sebastian as well. He stopped shying away, would look Sebastian in the eye, and would hold more than a three word conversation with him. In fact, Ciel was growing fond of Sebastian as well.

One evening, the earl had his second taste of danger when someone set out to finish off the Phantomhive family, and therefore Ciel, crashed in through the drawing room window where Ciel was reading.

Ciel didn’t even have the chance to scream for help, Sebastian was already in the room and standing in front of him.

The strange man drew a gun, firing it at Sebastian and striking him in the chest. Ciel screamed out Sebastian’s name, suddenly darting out from behind the demon to charge at their attacker, a look of fury on his face.

“Young master!” Sebastian shouted in protest, launching himself once more in front of the boy as their attacker fired another round of shots. Sebastian caught these midair, however, tossing them back at the man angrily and killing him immediately. He whirled around instantly, seizing Ciel’s face. “Are you alright?”

Ciel immediately burst into tears, “That- that guy shot you! I wanted to kill him, I thought he killed you! Are… Are you hurt, your shirt is all bloody, do we need to get you to a doctor?”

“Listen to me very closely,” Sebastian crouched, still holding the younger boy’s face in his hands. The anger had drained from his body instantly at the boy’s tears. The silly thing actually… cared? Humans were so very odd. Sebastian’s previous contractees only wanted Sebastian for their own benefit, they didn’t give a shit about what happened to him. “I am not human, you must remember that. I can’t be hurt by human things. You can, however, and we don’t want that, do we? Don’t cry for me, little one, I will always be just fine.”

Ciel suddenly flung his arms around the man, hugging him tight, “I want them dead. I want everyone who has ever hurt me, my name, my family, you… I want them dead.”

“Yes, my lord. That’s why we made the contract, hmm? Let’s go have some tea, shall we?” Sebastian guided the boy away from the dead body, noting to himself to clean it up once Ciel was safe and calm  

The young boy certainly hardened up within the next few years, especially in public, or if he thought Sebastian would mock him. However, there were times he still required the same comfort he did when he was younger. Sebastian didn’t mind, he blamed his foolish human body’s heart, but… the boy somehow worked his way into his heart.

He no longer loathed the contract. He liked being Ciel’s butler, he liked the boy’s presence, and he definitely more than liked Ciel.

Ciel was the first to kiss Sebastian about a year after they had made the contract. Sebastian was tucking the boy under blankets when Ciel caught his arm, kissing his cheek. Sebastian blinked in surprise, and Ciel blushed.

“I’m not going to apologize for that.”

“Certainly not,” Sebastian smiled, and he kissed the boy’s nose in return.

Cheek kisses to nose kisses, nose kisses to mouth kisses. They didn’t faze each other much anymore.

x

For Ciel, it became far too easy to forget what Sebastian was. Ciel saw him as his butler, his knight, and strangely enough, his protector. All of the times Sebastian dressed him, bathed him, kissed him, and held him after nightmares made it hard for Ciel to wrap his head around the fact that Sebastian was the reason for some people’s nightmares.

Yet, then there would be times when Sebastian would snap someone’s arm with a single glance, or would take four bullets to the abdomen shielding Ciel and dismember a body before his young master even had the chance to see his attacker, and the boy would be reminded that his knight, his protector, the one he shared a bed with at night, was a creature of hell.

Ciel had every reason to be afraid. He should have been afraid. But he wasn’t.

Granted, when he and Sebastian had first made the contract, Ciel was terrified of the demon. The burgundy eyes and raven hair, the pale skin that contrasted heavily against his black butler wear, it all had made Sebastian seem so threatening. He was also fairly certain that Sebastian loathed him at first.

The fear only diminished though, as Sebastian had pulled him from his prison, had taken him back to safety. The rough edges began softening as Sebastian came to know Ciel better. The demon butler’s gloved hands were so caring and soft when they would remove the bloody bandages from Ciel’s right eye, as they gently washed the fresh mark, and rebandaged it again.

The soft hands would tuck him into bed, comb his hair, and tie his shoes. Ciel learned quickly that they would never bring harm to him. In fact, they would do quite the opposite.

For the first year of the contract, when Ciel awoke nearly every night screaming out for his mother and father, sobbing tears into his pillow. Sebastian would sit himself at the edge of the bed with hot chocolate and toast, and he’d pull his gloves from his hands to wipe Ciel’s hot tears with cool and careful fingers.

Ciel eventually stopped crying when he awoke and started screaming Sebastian’s name. That was, until, the demon informed him that if Ciel even coughed he could hear him. So rather Ciel began to whisper Sebastian’s name. The demon would be there in an instant, remaining by Ciel’s side until he fell back to sleep, or of course until Ciel finally just started asking Sebastian to lay with him in bed while he slept at night, curling himself up into Sebastian’s chest.

“This doesn’t make me weak,” Ciel mumbled one night. He’d had Sebastian holding him while he slept for well over a year, but his older age was beginning to make him question himself. He was no longer the fragile child he had been at first.

“Not at all, master,” Sebastian had replied, his long fingers massaging Ciel’s scalp and sending him tumbling towards sleep. “You do not need me here. You simply want me here.”

“Exactly,” Ciel mumbled against Sebastian’s neck. However, he’d never admit it, but he did need Sebastian. He needed Sebastian for so many things as well as simply for his own emotional well being.

When Ciel no longer needed Sebastian to dry his tears, Sebastian still didn’t revert to someone who simply waited on Ciel physically. Sebastian continued to help Ciel emotionally and mentally.

Sebastian was his tutor in his studies, Sebastian insisted that Lizzie and Madam Red visited to keep Ciel from shutting himself away from people he cared about greatly. The demon, oddly enough, taught him manners and how to be polite (unless of course his acquaintance was already being rude).  

When Ciel was ill, Sebastian went far out of the way from most butlers when it came to caring for the young boy. Cool rags would be placed on Ciel’s forehead every few hours, he would be bathed from all sweat and sickly grime, and firm hands would help his trembling ones sip at water and tea, nimble fingers would feed him small pieces of bread that wouldn’t make a second appearance later like all other food would.

Despite Ciel’s strong mindset, his body could be fragile. He occasionally suffered from panic attacks and asthma. During dark times when Ciel would be back in his imprisonment, or trapped in a burning house, Sebastian’s gentle voice and hands would lull him back, would stop his thrashing and his screaming.

“I am here, Bocchan,” Sebastian would croon, holding out hesitant arms, ready to scoop the boy up when Ciel was prepared for it. Ciel thought there would be the out of place look of worry on the generally smooth face, but it could simply be his stressed out mind each time.

Unashamedly, Ciel would cling to the demon and press his face to the firm chest, breathe in the sweet smell of Sebastian. And Sebastian would rock him gently, stroke his hair, tell him that he was safe like he’d been doing from the very beginning.

In the times where he couldn’t breathe from the asthma tightening his chest, when he would collapse to the ground and curl in on himself as he fought to gasp in air, strong hands would pull him back upright, straightening out his back and rubbing mint oil on his chest to ensure that the boy was getting the best air flow to his lungs.

Again, Sebastian would seem strangely worried, and he would carry Ciel straight to bed and sit with the boy between his legs, leaning up against the headboard with Ciel tucked back against him so that he could continue to massage Ciel’s chest and keep him breathing properly.

All of these things and more certainly shaped the relationship between the two and continued to shape them. Sebastian had become a necessity in Ciel’s life, something Ciel could not exist without. It was ironic in the sense that the one thing that kept Ciel existing would be the thing to end his existence.

But until that day, Sebastian would continue to stand beside the boy that had him so enamored, the boy he had come to care so much about even outside of the contract. He’d be Ciel’s until the very end, he would ensure that Ciel would be his before and even after he devoured the boy’s soul and kept Ciel with him forever.

Until then, their relationship would keep growing to its strongest.

 


End file.
